Apron mechanism for lathes



. WARD APRON MECHANISM FOR LATHES. APPLlcATmN man Noy.25,1918.

INGLE AND w l Patented Dec. 21, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

A. H. INGLE AND W. E. WARD. APRON MECHANISM FOR LATHES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.25, 1918- '21, 1920. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Patented Dec.

UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.`

ARTHUR H. INGLE AND WALLACE E. WARD, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK; SAID WARD ASSIGNOR TO SAIDMINGLE.

Arnon Mnciaanrsivr non LATHEs.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 21, 1920.

Application filed November 25, 1918. Serial No. 264,071.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, ARTHUR H. INGLE and VALLAGE E. VARD, citizens of the United States, and both residents of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented an rImprovement in Apron Mechanisms for Lathes, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts in each of the several views.

This invention relates to vapron mechanism for turning lathes, and more particularly to improvements in the operative connections from the feed shaft that extends lengthwise of the lathe for feeding the apron along the bed. A prime object of the inven- A tion is to provide improved gearing connections for this purpose adapted to feed the apron in either direction at will and including means for shifting an interposed `clutch device to a neutral or disconnecting position by an impulsel 'that is independent of the movement of ther apron and merely controlled, by a trip device that is actuated bythe movement of the apron. In

accordance with 'our invention clutch moving devices in the form of spring'elements are provided acting on the clutch and tending constantly to return it to neutral position from engagement `with 4either of two oppositely acting vdriving elements as soon as released by the trip device." A further object is to provide an improved construction of such trip device ladapted for controlling a"disconnectingy clutch movement either automatically or manually at-will. The foregoing and other objects and advantages ofthe invention will more fully appear from the following detailed description, and the distinctive features of novelty will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation showing a portion of the lathe bed equipped with apron mechanism constructed in accordance with our invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan vie'vsT of such mechanism; and

Fig. 3 is an'end view thereof.

The lathe bed is indicatedat equipped with a usual feed rack- `11 extending. along one side beneath'the topthereof, and with an apron 12 borne by the carriage and slidably litted therewith to the bed in usual manner as indicated at 13. V The usual feed shaft 14 is mounted in bearings of the bed (not shown) -andpextends alongside the vbed at one side thereof, this shaft having a key way 15 extending along the length thereof` blidablyv and rotatably fitted on the shaft 1a are two spaced apart oppositely facing bevel pinions 16, 17, these pinions having rearwardly extending sleeves'journaled in bearingsllS, 18 carried by the apron. The front sides of these pinions which face each other are equipped with clutch faces 19, 20 respectively which are adapted to be selectively engaged by cooperative clutch faces at the opposite ends of a clutch sleeve 21 slidably keyed on the shaft 14;,the length of this clutch sleeve being such that when in intermediate position the clutch faces at its ends are disengaged from both of the clutch faces v19, 20 of the respective pinions, lwhile a small movement in either direction will engage its clutch teeth at one end or the 'other with the clutch face on one of the pinions. The clutch sleeve 21 is formed with an intermediate annular groove 22 in which engages a shifter ring or segment 23 carried by a projection 24: from a block 25 fixed on a bar 26 slidably fitted in spaced apart bearings 27, 27 of the apron. On'this bar 26 is mounted at each side of the block 25 a compression coil spring 28, these springs having a backing against the respective bearings 27 and pressing from each side upon the block 25, thus normally holding said block inmiddle position between the bearings 27 and hence holding the clutch sleeve 21 in intermediate neutral position disconnected from both of thepinions 16, 17.v Thebar or rod 26 eX- tends out from'its bearing 27 at one end where it. has pivoted to it as seen at 29 the lower end of a'lever 30 fulcrumed at 31y in the apron. The up er' shorter end of the lever 30 is'forme as a short gear segment with three spaced apart teeth 32 and two intermediate notches 33. VPivoted on the apron at ,34 adjacent the upper end of thelever 30 is a lever arm 35 equipped with` a single depend-ing tooth 36 in position to cooperate withl the teeth 32 and the tooth spaces 33, the outer ends of the teeth 32 and 36 being flattened for a purpose now to appear. Rigid with the lever arm is a short lever arm 37 extending in the opposite direction therefrom, tothe outer end of which is pivoted'at 38 a bar 39 extending downward to the lower portion of the apron where it is pivoted at 40 to a lever 41 pivoted to the apron at 42 and having its outer end projecting from the apron and formed with a treadle or foot rest 43. r1`his lever 41V is engaged beyond the pivot point 40 by one end of a tension coil spring 44, theV other end of which is anchored to the apron at 45. Thus the action of the spring 44 tends to draw the lever 41 upward and hence through the link 39 to swing the lever arm 35 downward pressing the tooth 36 against the intermediate tooth 32 when the clutch sleeve is in intermediate position and holding the tooth 36 down into one of the tooth spaces 33 when the clutch is shifted to either of its operative positions for connecting up either of the pinions 16, 17. The lever 30 has rigid therewith an operating arm 46 extending 4without the apron and equipped with a handle 47 whereby the lever 30 may be shifted in either direction from its neutral position as seen in Fig. 1 to permit the tooth 36 to drop into either of the notches 33 for effecting driving movement of the apron in either direction until the tooth 36 is tipped out of the notch 33 as now to be described. The tooth 36 may be tripped out of either notch 33 to thus effect disengagement of the apron feed either by depressing the treadle 43 or by operating a handle eXtension 48 of the lever 35, or it may be tripped automatically by the engagement of a shifter member on the apron with a fixed stop on the bed. For this purpose we provide a lever arm 49'extending up from the pivot 34 and rigid with the arm 35, this arm 49 having its upper end 50 in the path of a fixed stop 51 on thebed whereby on engaging said stop the arm 35 and the tooth 36 will be swung up to permit the clutch sleeve 21 to return to neutral position under the action of the s prings 28. As will be seen from Fig. Y1 when the vclutch is thus returned to neutral position either automatically or manually as described, the flat engaging faces of the teeth 32, 36 will hold the arm 35 elevated with the ends of the teeth pressed together until the clutch sleeve is again shifted by the operation of the lever 46. We preferably provide means whereby the tooth 36 may be raised to permit the clutch to return to neutral position, from the other end of the apron.V F or this purpose a rod 51 is pivotedatone endto the end l50 of lever 49 and extends to the opposite endV of the apron where a downwardly bent extension 52 thereof is pivoted to the short depending end 53V ofthev bell crank lever which is fulcrumed-to the apron at 54 and has its other end extending horizontallyrwith a handle 56 at its extremitv.

meshwith av bevel gear 57 which is fixed on the end of 'a short shaft 58 horizontally'journal'edin the apron as seen at 5.9 and having fixed thereon a spur pinion 60 which meshes with a spur gear 61 journaled at 62 in the apron and havingrigid therewith a pinion 63 which meshes with a large spur gear 64 journaled at 65 in the apron and having rigid therewith a pinion 66 which meshes with the rack 11, these gears constituting a gear reduction train from the shaft14 to the rack 11. The large gear 64 also has meshing therewith a pinion 67 rigid with a hand wheel 68 journaled to the apron at k69 and equipped with a suitable handle 70, this constituting means whereby the apron may be moved by hand when the clutch 21 is in neutral position.

Thus it will'I be seen that the impulse for shifting the clutch. sleeve 21 to neutral position is supplied by the springs 28 and is thus independent of the movement of the apron, so that when the feed is to kbe disconnected either manually or automatically all that is required is to operate the trip constituted by the tooth 36 on the arm 35, which requires only a relatively slight effort and can be effected in an instant so that it is insured that the' disconnecting movement of the clutch sleeve 21 will always be effected completely and with certainty, 'thus'avoiding diiiiculties and annoyancee` from uncertainties of clutch shifting that have been hitherto encountered where the movement of the apron itself or manual limpulse has -been relied on for doing the actual work'of shifting the clutch. r We do not desire to be limited to the precise structural details herein be embodied in other forms without departing from the essential attributes thereof, and

wetherefore desire the present embodiment to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being had to.: the appendedclaims rather than to the foregoing description, to indicate the scope -of'theinvention.

Having described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: Y 'Y 1. In combination, a lathe apron', drivingFV mechanism therefor including a clutch Sleeve shiftable from operative position to aneutral inoperative position, said sleeve'. having clutching faces at the ends thereof,V

means normally tending to move said sleeve to neutral position, locking means for hold-Y Y mg said sleeve 1n ,operative clutch connect-iV Y ing position,and a trip device for disengagin said locking means. l

2. n combination, a lathe apron, driving mechanism therefor including a clutch Sleeve shiftable from operative position to a neutral inoperative position, meansv normally Vlrlhe pinions 16, 17 are both constantly inV tending to move said sleeve to neutral Yposimeans, said trip device having provision for manual operation and also for automatic operation by the movement of the lathe apron.

3. In combination, a lathe apron, driving mechanism therefor including connections having a shiftable element adapted to operate the apron in opposite directions or to occupy a neutral inoperative position, means for normally holding said shiftable element yieldingly in ino erative position, means for locking said shi able element in either of two operative positions for moving the aprons in either direction at will, and a tripping device for disengaging said locking means to permit said shiftable element to return to neutral position.

4. In combination, a lathe apron, driving mechanism for feeding the same including connections for feeding the apron in opposite directions at will, a clutch element shiftable to engage either of said connections selectively, spring means for normally holding said clutch element in a neutral inoperative position, and trip controlled locking means for holding said clutch element in either of two operative positions lfor feeding the apron in either direction at will.

5. In combination, a lathe apron, driving mechanism for feeding the same including connections for feeding the apron in opposite directions at will, a clutch element shiftable to engage ther of said connections selectively, spring means for normally holding said clutch element in a neutral inoperative position, and trip controlled locking means for holding said clutch element in either of two operative positions for fee`ding the apron in either direction at will, said trip controlled means including a spring actuated detent automatically movable t0, lock said clutch element in either of its operative positions and havingprovision for holding it from such movement while the clutch element is in neutral position.

6. In combination, a lathe apron, driving mechanism for feeding the same including connections for feeding the apron in operative directions at will, a clutch sleeve shiftable to engage either of said connections or to occupy an intermediate neutral position, oppositely acting springs normally holding said clutch sleeve in neutral position, means for moving said clutch sleeve to interlock with either of said connections for feeding the apron in either direction, and trip operated locking means for holding said clutch sleeve in either operative position, including an element shiftable manually and an element shiftable automatically to release said lock and permit its return to neutral position.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification.

ARTHUR H. INGLE. WALLACE E. WARD. 

